


Enough

by TheAddict4Dramatics



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Angst, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Angst, little bath cuddling, who doesn't love that?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23842123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAddict4Dramatics/pseuds/TheAddict4Dramatics
Summary: Over the years he’d become an expert in dealing with a traumatised Scully, as distressing as that thought was. But things were different between them now. They shared an apartment, a bed. They’d made a baby together with no scientific intervention needed. He cooked for her and she washed his underwear and he had his grandmother’s ring hidden at the back of the closet that he was still building up the courage to give to her. Things were different and he was still trying work out exactly what that meant.Scully has a horrible day, makes a big decision and Mulder finally, finally! gets it.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 1
Kudos: 67





	Enough

Mulder found her in William’s room, the baby asleep long ago though she still rocked him gently with her lips pressed against his forehead and her eyes closed. Mulder looked at her face, he studied the cut above her eyebrow, the bruise on her chin, the dried tear tracks on her cheeks. The sight made him angry. It made it him want to punch something, made him want to get back in the car and drive to the morgue and find the shot-dead son a bitch and shoot him all over again. 

He forced out a steady breath to calm himself. He couldn’t be this angry around her, it wasn’t fair. He cleared his throat slightly, trying his best not to startle her. She had been beyond jumpy since he’d shown up at the crime scene about an hour ago. Scully opened her eyes and turned to look at him. Her expression was soft and he was glad of it. It had been so blank when he had first seen her afterwards, only William seemed to be able to bring her out of it. It wasn’t that he wanted her to hurt. God no, he didn’t want that at all. But she needed to feel this. 

“Bath’s ready when you are.” His voice had taken on the practiced trying-not-to-wake-the-baby murmur. 

“Thank you.” Scully gave him a little smile to show she meant it and turned back around, placing William in the crib as gently as she could manage. Her movements were stiff, her discomfort clear and it made him wince. 

“Do you want me to make you some tea?” _Anything Scully. Let me do anything to be useful._

She shook her head as she brushed past him, her fingers lingering for a beat on his upper arm. Mulder followed her into the bathroom, standing awkwardly by the door as she started to undress. He didn’t know if he was supposed to be there or not. Did she want him close by or was she longing to be left on her own? 

Over the years he’d become an expert in dealing with a traumatised Scully, as distressing as that thought was. But things were different between them now. They shared an apartment, a bed. They’d made a baby together with no scientific intervention needed. He cooked for her and she washed his underwear and he had his grandmother’s ring hidden at the back of the closet that he was still building up the courage to give to her. Things were different and he was still trying work out exactly what that meant.

“Ahh...” Scully called out lightly as she reached behind her, reaching for the clasp of her bra. The length of her back was already turning a nasty shade of purple. The EMT’s that treated her said it was a miracle she hadn’t broken any ribs. 

“Let me get it.” His voice was decidedly wobbly and his hands shook as he stood behind her and undid the garment, sliding the straps down her arms. 

“Thank you.” She said again. 

Mulder turned her towards him and knelt down. He set to work removing the rest of her clothes and then helped her climb into the tub. She lowered herself slowly into the water, sliding down until the water was almost up to her chin. She let out a big sigh and closed her eyes. Mulder hoped that meant she had at last found a comfortable position. He took this as his cue to go so he lent forward and kissed her head. 

“Let me know if you need anything, okay?” As he withdrew and turned to leave a slippery hand reached out of the water and caught his wrist.

“Can you stay here?” Her eyes were open again now and she was looking at him with no small amount of uncertainty. This was new to her too and clearly she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to ask such a thing.

“Of course!” Her eyes softened and then closed once more as he settled on the floor, his back to the tub. Her hand remained out of the water and her damp fingers stroked their way blindly through his hair. He’d always loved it when she’d done that. Half the time the head injury had been worth it just to feel her run her fingers through his hair. “Hmm...” He hummed. “That feels good.”

“Good.” Mulder turned his head to look at her. Her eyes were still closed and she looked oddly peaceful against all of the drama of the night. Serene against white tile backdrop. Suddenly there were tears in his eyes.

“Tell me what to do. How can I make this better?” He was aware of the desperation in his voice, aware that he was doing what he always did and was somehow still making it about him and what he was feeling. He shook his head, trying to shake off some of the emotion. “Sorry.” 

“You’re doing it. You are making it better.” Scully said softly. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” She didn’t answer that. Things might have been different but some things were still the same. Scully was still Scully which meant she didn’t want to talk about it, period. He smiled to himself. The familiarity of the stony Scully silence was comforting. He took her hand from the back of his head and brought it to his lips. “I love you.” He told her knuckles. She made a small noise of acknowledgement and stroked her fingers across his lips rather clumsily. 

“I’m sorry – if I scared you earlier.”

“No, don’t be sorry.” Mulder replied.

The very last thing she should feel in this situation was sorry. But he’d be lying if he said she hadn’t scared him. The best he could work out what had happened was that they’d been chasing down a suspect and said suspect had somehow caught her on her own and dragged her down a nearby alley. Then, by the looks of her, he’d beaten the shit out of her and threatened her at gunpoint until Doggett had shown up and shot the bastard dead. Which, as far as Mulder was concerned, made him a lucky bastard too because he’d have done a lot worse if he’d gotten his hands on him himself. 

It was a stressful afternoon by anyone’s standards. Though as Scully’s afternoons went she’d certainly had worse, a lot worse. The fact that he’d even been called surprised him. Scully not contacting him and then limping through the door a little later than usual causing him to go ape shit at the whole thing seemed a more likely scenario. But he had been called and when he’d arrived on the scene she’d all but thrown herself into his arms and cried openly into them. He’d been taken aback. He was expecting her infamous stoicism not the reaction he’d only seen a very few times before on cases like the Pfaster one that had managed to get under her skin good and proper. He hadn’t thought this was one such case but clearly he’d been wrong. 

“I made a fool of myself.” She commented critically. 

“No you didn’t.” He wasn’t just humouring her, she hadn’t – he’d made sure she hadn’t. He knew she would be embarrassed later on at showing what she perceived to be weakness in front of the other agents and local law enforcement so he’d made sure she was out of sight. He’d shielded her, physically with his own body to stop prying eyes as he’d done his best to comfort her. “You had just almost died, you’ll allowed to need a minute.” She was returning to her usual self now and he knew she wouldn’t believe that but he said it anyway. 

“I freaked out Agent Doggett. I was a total mess when he found me.” That Mulder would not deny. Doggett had sounded freaked out when he’d called him. He’d almost begged him to come down, not that Mulder had needed to be persuaded. 

“He’ll get over it. And he’s very loyal to you, it won’t affect the way he sees you.” Scully hadn’t said it but he assumed that was what she was worried about. 

“It’s not that... it’s just I feel bad.” Mulder frowned. “He was trying his best to be a good partner and make everything alright and I just...” Scully took a big breath. “I just needed you.” 

Mulder remained quiet, letting her confession settle around them. It was a moment and they both knew it. Scully admitting that she needed anything or anyone was a moment. He took her hand and kissed it again.

“You’ve got me. You’ll always have me.” 

He couldn’t help the smile that was spreading across his face. This level of communication was, by their standards, absolutely incredible. Something horrible and traumatic had happened and they were talking about it with minimal discomfort, like actual adults. He was proud of them. 

“I couldn’t stop thinking about this morning.” Scully said suddenly, breaking the gentle silence that Mulder had been enjoying. Her voice was tight now and her eyebrows were drawn low over her eyes. “When he pulled the gun and I thought he was going to shoot... I couldn’t stop thinking about this morning and you and Will waving me off from the doorway.” 

“It’s okay.” He soothed, stroking his fingers over her hand. She’d started crying again and it was breaking him. 

“It’s different now than it was before. I have so much more to lose!” 

“I know. It’s okay Scully.” He repeated his words slow and low to try and comfort her. He wasn’t sure it was working. Mulder turned round so he was kneeling beside the tub facing her and he reached in to bring his hands to her face, drying her tears and leaning his forehead against hers, mindful of the cut. “It’s okay, I promise. You’re okay.” 

He’d had to bend his body in a pretty interesting way to be able to reach her over the bath’s side and he had no doubt he looked more than ridiculous. All long limbed and gangly. That, if nothing else, appeared to work and she let out a shaky laugh once the tears had slowed.

“If it weren’t for your ribs I’d climb in with you.” Mulder teased her gently. She smiled and brought her hands to his face. They stayed like that, faces packed tightly together, him bent over at an awkward angle as Scully spoke:

“When I left to have William you said that I didn’t owe them anything. I said I knew that but I don’t think I did really. I think I still thought I had something to prove. But I don’t anymore. It’s just not worth it.” 

“Scully you’ve had a traumatic day. You don’t need to make any decisions right now.” He’d support her no matter what. He hoped she knew that but he didn’t want her to rush into any life changing decisions she may later regret. 

“It’s not just today. I’ve been thinking about it for a while.” She confessed quietly. “Today just brought everything into a clearer focus. The X-Files are in good hands with John and Monica. I know you haven’t always seen eye to eye with them but they’re good people and they want to find the truth…”

“Scully,” Mulder interrupted her as he suddenly realised what she was trying to do. “You don’t have to justify yourself to me.” He told her firmly. Did she really think he would be mad at her for walking away from the X-Files when he’d been gone almost a year himself? He’d meant what he had said to her before she had William – she owed the X-Files and the FBI absolutely nothing. She never had. She didn’t owe him anything either. It hurt him to think she still thought she had to prove her loyalty to, what had been for so long, his fight. “The decision is yours to make, of course it is and I’ll support you in anything you decide. I just think maybe you should sleep on it and we can talk about it tomorrow?” She gave him a little smile.

“When did you get to be so sensible?”

“What can I say – you’re rubbing off on me.” He teased her, reaching into the water and flicking a bit at her for good measure.

“I could retrain… go back into medicine…” Her voice had taken on an almost wistful quality. Mulder withdrew slightly so he could see her face. She looked so cautiously hopeful. She wanted this, he realised at once, really wanted this. He leant forward and caught her lips gently with his own. “Hmm… what was that for?”

“To show my support.” He told her. “My complete and unfailing support for you to do whatever it is you want to do. I just want you to be happy. You, me and Will together and safe and happy. That’s all I want.” She looked as if he had just told her everything she had ever wanted to hear. He felt guilty; perhaps he should have told her this a long time ago. He should have shown her. His actions in the past had sometimes shown the exact opposite of this but he was done dicking around now. For perhaps for the first time ever in his life he knew what he wanted and this was it.

“That’s all I want too.” Scully whispered, tears clogging her throat. “Do you mean it? Is that enough for you?” He smiled and shook his head as if she were crazy to even ask such a question.

“Enough? Sweetheart, it’s a goddam dream come true!” She let out a little laugh as fresh tears fell from her eyes. Mulder lent forward and kissed her forehead. This day had been truly horrible but he was glad it had led them to this place. They’d needed to have this conversation for a long time.

“If it weren’t for my ribs I’d pull you in with me.” Scully said, echoing his words from earlier. He smiled at her. Then, as he went to lean forward once more, his back made a loud and echoing pop. “Oh my god! Are you okay?” Her tone of voice may have been all concern but he didn’t miss the slight, amused twinkle in her eye.

“Yeah…” He replied in a rather strained voice, his arm reaching behind him to sooth the offended muscle and bone. “I’m fine, just really, _really_ old. I’ve been sitting on the floor too long.”

“I’m glad I can’t pull you in here with me, I don’t think you’re up to it.” She teased him lightly. Mulder made a face at her but was still gently rubbing his back. “I was going to ask you to help me out of the tub but I don’t want to injure you further!” She was having entirely too much fun with this but she was smiling again and he couldn’t be mad even if he tried.

“Ha-ha. I’m sure I’ll manage. Come here.” Mulder stood, albeit a little stiffly and slowly helped her to get out the bath. He wrapped a large towel loosely around her, mindful not to apply too much pressure to her ribs. “Okay?”

“Hmm… it’s warm. Thank you.”

Her smile was small but meaningful. And perhaps for the first time ever he finally understood. It was the little things that mattered to her – running her a bath when she’d had an awful day, putting the towel on the heater so it warmed up while she soaked in the tub, sitting quietly with her and holding her hand whilst she processed a traumatic event. It was so easy to make her happy, he just had to show up. He’d spend so long running from this, from his overwhelming feelings for her so convinced he didn’t deserve her, that he could never be what she needed. But all she needed was for him to be there, to be present, to love her. And he’d been doing that, one way or another, for the last nine years.

“Are you okay?” She asked him, her eyebrows scrunched up once again in that adorable way they did when she was concerned about him. He nodded. He didn’t quite trust his voice enough to speak but the nod seemed to placate her enough. “Well then… some tea might be nice now…” She said rather sheepishly.

“You got it.”

Mulder leaned over and released the plug from the bath so she wouldn’t have to bend to do it. As he turned to leave the room he caught another little smile from her. See – the little things. Scully had finally had enough of the bureau but if he played his cards right hopefully she’d never have enough of him. He made his way to the kitchen and turned on the kettle. 


End file.
